Decius broke into a sprint as soon as the farmhouse came into view.

Memories came flooding back to him as soon as he caught sight of it. The broken window was still boarded up since he had broken it a few years back, and Sascha's toys were still strewn across the lawn as always.

Decius didn't care about anything else but getting to the front door. He flared up his power to run faster, leaping over the dolls lying in the grass. He bounded onto the front porch and skidded to a halt, only a second from crashing into the wall.

He rapped his knuckles against the door, anxiously waiting. It felt awkward, but after being away for so long, he felt like a visitor at his own family door.

Moments passed, but he could hear no sound.

Nothing. Where could they be?

Decius paced, his heartbeat increasing and anger beginning to boil.

Laurenz caught up, breathless, holding onto the porch handrail for support. "Are they here?"

Decius shook his head. "I'm going to look around for them."

The pair were about to descend the porch stairs to search when a woman's voice sounded from around the corner of the house. "Hello? I thought I heard knocking, sorry, I was in the garden and I-"

Decius snapped his neck around to see a familiar pixie cut. Renata.

"Decius? Is it really you?" She said, her mouth agape in shock. "I have felt for days you were journeying home, but I scarcely wanted to believe it" Decius didn't waste any time in leaping over the handrail and engulfing his mother in a crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry. So, so sorry." Decius whispered in her ear, wishing he had never left.

Renata gently pulled away and put a soft hand on his cheek. "Sascha will be over the moon to see you. Don't be sorry, you're home now," she smiled, "and by the way, you don't need to pretend anymore that you haven't inherited some powers. I feel it around you" she added quietly.

Decius's eyes widened. "You know?"

Renata chuckled, "oh, I've always known."

"Mummy! Who's there?" Cried a young girl from around the back of the house. Decius recognized her voice immediately, and the thoughts about himself came flooding back to the surface. I'm too dangerous to be around her.

An over-excited scream followed her words as she turned the corner and her eyes caught sight of her older brother.

The next thing Decius knew, his sister had fixed herself to his leg, hugging tighter than he had expected. "Decius! You're back! Never, never ever leave us again!" She screeched, gripping him even tighter.

"Sascha, I've missed you." He said, prying her off and kneeling down so she could reach him. She threw herself at him again in a tight embrace, this time around his neck.

"Who's your friend?" Renata asked, and before Decius could speak, Laurenz introduced himself.

"Laurenz Marcello, at your service, ma'am." He announced, bowing his head slightly in respect. He had meant to use a false name, but what the heck, no one would have heard of him out here.

"Well, I'm sure Decius has told you all about us." Renata said, the smile evident in her voice.

"Actually, no, he hasn't. He doesn't like telling me some things." Laurenz said, the accusing tone hidden for only Decius to understand.

Renata scoffed and cuffed Decius on the back of the head. "Well, I'm Renata, his mother, and this little one here is my daughter Sascha."

"Lovely to meet you," Laurenz responded. He was pretending to be kind, but Decius could easily tell that he wasn't enjoying himself.

Decius stood, prying himself away from his sister's grip. "Mother," he whispered, forcing himself to sound impatient, even though he hated the idea of leaving again. "We need to leave."

Renata turned to him, confusion written all across her face. "What? But you just came back!"

"Something has gone wrong. I will come back, I promise. I need to take Laurenz home." Decius said, louder than when he last spoke.

As soon as Decius had spoken, Renata could tell that something was amiss. "Sascha, honey, why don't you go inside? You can even help yourself to the cookie jar, we'll be in soon, okay darling?"

Sascha frowned, but obeyed nevertheless, quickly tottering up the porch steps and into the house, shutting the door behind her.

"What's gone wrong? Decius, you'd better not lie to me!" Renata warned.

Decius began to speak, but he was soon cut off. "It's too hard to explain now, but-"

"Well, isn't this a merry gathering."

All heads whipped towards the voice, but only Laurenz knew who it belonged to.

A man stood before them with over a dozen armed men behind him and a smirk on his face. His skin was pale and his dark hair was pushed up into a tidy quiff, and he had a perfectly tailored red suit on. His aura was authoritative, and his expression showed he wasn't about to mess around.

Decius's mind reached out, grasping for answers. Why had he not sensed the danger? Where had they come from and how could they have been so close behind us? Instantly filled with regret that trouble had followed him home, he remained silent for the moment. His mind began to race, considering all the options, actions and likely outcomes over a precious few seconds.

"Ashte," Laurenz began, a sneering, fake smile plastered on his face, "what a lovely surprise."

"Indeed," Ashte responded, an eyebrow raised and his hands tucked behind his back, "ah, and Decius, it seems you're still alive. My sources were correct in telling me you've failed to kill the man, Laurenz. A shame, really. You know, I had actually believed that you would be able to do it, but as soon as I caught wind that you were conspiring with him, well, I knew I had to come out and deal with it myself."

Renata dashed forward and pushed Decius behind her. "What is the meaning of this? Kill my son? Who do you think you are?" She strode forward confidently, ignoring the weapons that were now trained for her. She prodded her finger at Ashte's chest, infuriated at his look of incredulity and amusement at her outburst.

"So, Ms Cavlacanti, you're the mother of this criminal. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ashte, and I am a man who gets jobs done that need doing, for whoever pays the highest price. Your son has a handsome bounty on his head, and Mr Marcello here was the prime candidate to collect it. But now he has shown he is not up to the task, I will gladly collect it for myself. He allowed that to sink in momentarily before continuing "Tell me, how much has your son told you about the people he's killed? Or the people he's robbed? Go on, do entertain me."

Decius's hands clenched into fists, trying to contain himself. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this.

"Oh, I see where this is going. Make up some pathetic backstory about him to justify your sick desires for blood? Enlighten me, sir, who exactly is funding your games? You tell me the truth right now, or so help me I'll do something I just might regret." Renata continued.

"Is that so?" Ashte questioned, before clicking his fingers and summoning a soldier to his side. "Contain her," he then instructed, and the soldier moved quickly to take hold of her, bringing her to her knees, a gun pressed to her temple.

"No!" Decius roared, taking a daring step forward, but no further. Ashte's thoughts were loud enough to know that if he advanced any further, Renata would be face to face with death.

Unlike Decius, Renata had only ever used her powers for good and even then only sparingly. In truth they frightened her a little and so she steered clear of exploring them to the fullest extent. When she had her family she suppressed her talents and chose to live a simple life. As she knelt in submission, she felt a pang of regret as she desperately wanted to protect her family. She sensed strong power in Decius, but he was also still young and more than a little reckless, which could be a dangerous combination. She needed to bide her time for the moment summoning her reserves and willing her power forth, all the while praying that it could be summoned before it was too late.

Decius locked eyes with Ashte, his glare burning with ferocity. "Let her go, Ashte. None of this is her fault. Nothing here involves her. Leave her out of this."

Ashte chuckled. "That's funny. That sounds like something Laurenz would have said right before I killed his illegitimate girlfriend. Such a shame, she really seemed like a wonderful girl."

As he heard those unexpected words, something palpable snapped in Laurenz. He took a step backward unconsciously, his legs scarcely holding him up as a chasm ripped through his heart. He fought for breath as he struggled to comprehend the news. His head swimming and his stomach threatening to empty on the ground, he sucked in gulps of air trying to regain some composure. He fought his way back to the moment, mustering every ounce of resolve he possessed. He needed to stay alive to make it back to Seraphina and see the truth with his own eyes. He drew strength from his rigid refusal to let Ashte see him grieve, and pulled himself upright to face her murderer.

Ashte wasn't finished however, his eyes never leaving Laurenz's as he added, "I'm guessing from the look on your face that you already knew of her fate, isn't that right, Decius?"

Laurenz's burning gaze bored a hole into the back of Decius's head. "What?" He snarled. His mind could not process this news and with so many questions that had no answers he wanted to hear right now, his emotions boiled venomously.

Everything went silent, awaiting Decius's response, but he couldn't find the words to answer Laurenz.

"Decius what's going on? Tell me what's happening! Is this man really telling the truth?" Renata quickly shouted as she glanced between the two men standing off against each other.

The wind stood still, the arms of the trees ceased movement, and even Ashte didn't have a snarky response. Under such intense scrutiny Decius suddenly felt like an ordinary 18 year old, and not the powerful being he had been transforming into. He did not like it one bit and fought to conjure some control over his state.

Decius's eyes met his mother's that burned for answers. He withered seeing a tear track down her cheek and at once he was compelled to address her with the truth about himself.

"I'm sorry, mother. It's all true. I've killed many people, I even killed today. I can't change the way I am now, and I have to leave to make sure you and Sascha are safe," Decius admitted, remorsefully, "the world has a myriad of problems and I've let myself become one. I can't be your problem anymore. I'm sorry I have brought this upon you"

The sound of slow, mocking applause filled the valley. "Bravo," Ashte jeered, "what a show! But you really think your mother is safe? That's unfortunate, it really is."

As the words left Ashte's lips, Laurenz had gathered himself and had heard enough. His wounded heart spurring him with revengeful energy.

"Shut up, Ashte!" Laurenz bellowed, pulling out a handgun from his jacket. He wasn't yet sure who would wear the bullet sitting silently in the chamber, and he cared not for the fact that Ashte's men had far more firepower.

As he kept his eyes trained on both Ashte and Decius, he glimpsed the unmistakable blue flash in Decius's eyes. He knew something was about to happen and could feel Decius imploring him to buy some time.

The words came easily. "How dare you kill her? She was all I had! This was going to be my last job and you wouldn't have had to worry about her! I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her, and look what you've gone and done!"

That was all the time Decius needed. The simple act of cleansing his guilty mind with his mother had strangely recharged some of his powers. These men did not need to see the full might of his powers yet, he just wanted them to be gone, and so he planted the idea in Ashte's mind.

"Leave" was all Decius said firmly.

"Very well. But heed my words now, we will see each other again, one way or another" Ashte announced, turning away. "Oh, and Laurenz? I know you'll come crawling back one day," he added.

The man holding Renata captive shoved her to the ground and followed him, along with the other soldiers that trailed behind them.

"You," Laurenz growled, storming towards Decius, "how could you not tell me that you knew Seraphina was dead? I left her alone, trusting that nothing would happen, only praying that the only good thing in my life would be kept a secret, and only now do I find out that she was murdered by my own boss? She was the light of my life, Cavlacanti, and you didn't even have the decency to tell me that something had gone wrong. My life is no longer worth living, so why should yours be?"

Then, without breaking Decius's gaze, Laurenz lifted his gun and fired a bullet at Renata.

Decius didn't have to look to know that he didn't miss.